Photography
The B.F.A. in Photography is a professional undergraduate degree for students desiring extensive studio experience with an emphasis in Photography and associated media. Students in the program develop critical thinking skills, refine their intellectual and creative processes, and learn both traditional and contemporary aspects of the photographer's craft.
As digital technology effectively blurs the line between films, periodicals, television, and photographs, students of photography are constantly challenged to define and reexamine the photographer's role in contemporary art practices.
A photography student will approach the study of Photography beginning with traditional black and white materials and progress to color processes with a concentrated examination of contemporary still and moving digital medias. By examining the history of photography, students will understand the roles photography played in culture throughout the past and its current position as an art form and cultural phenomena. Technical proficiency, personal growth, as well as conceptual and aesthetic development are emphasized equally.
Herron's photography facilities are among the best in the nation. With our facilities on the campus of IUPUI, the department has multiple black and white labs, individual color and advanced darkrooms, a computer lab, shooting studio, a dedicated finishing area, and gallery. This permits students to work in a variety of formats and media, including basic black and white printing, Type color and Ilfochrome color printing, advanced black and white printing and developing, mixed and alternative processes, digital media, and video. Students will have access to professional equipment, including medium format, 4x5, Polaroid, and video cameras, studio lighting kits, light meters, tripods, and state of the art digital equipment.
Mastering technical processes and developing your own artistic vision prepares you for a choice of multiple careers in photography and related fields. Employment opportunities include working perhaps as a studio artist and exhibiting work in fine art galleries and museums; being employed as a documentarian, publishing work in newspaper and other print venues or working in museum documenting works of art; as a commercial photographer; or as a portraitist. Many of our graduates work in emerging digital media, still, moving, and the worldwide web.
For the most current curriculum, please see the Herron website. For the recommended four-year plan of study, please refer to IUPUI degree maps. The B.F.A. degree requirements meet the standards established by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design for professional undergraduate degrees in the Fine Arts.
Degree requirements
General Education30 credits corresponding to IUPUI's Statewide Transferrable General Education Core, distributed as follows:
Foundational Intellectual Skills
- Analytical Reasoning (6 cr. of which 3 must be Quantitative Reasoning)
- Core Communication (6 cr.)
- Cultural Understanding (3 cr.)
Intellectual Breadth and Adaptiveness
- Arts/Humanities and Social Sciences (9 cr. total, with at least 3 cr. in each area)
- Life and Physical Sciences (6 cr.)
20 credits distributed as follows:
- HER-D101 Drawing 1 (3 cr.)
- HER-D102 Drawing 2 (3 cr.)
- HER-F121 Two-Dimensional Design (3 cr.)
- HER-F122 Color Concepts (3 cr.)
- HER-F123 Three-Dimensional Design (3 cr.)
- HER-F100 Creative Processes (3 cr.)
- HER-X101 Foundation Resources (3 cr.)
- HER-X102 Foundation Capstone (3 cr.)
15 credits distributed as follows:
- HER-H101 History of Art I (3 cr.) (may be used to fill Arts/Humanities General Education requirement)
- HER-H102 History of Art 2 (3 cr.) (may be used to fill Arts/Humanities General Education requirement)
- HER-H103 Introduction to Contemporary Art (3 cr.)
- HER-HXXX Art History electives (6 cr.)
39 credits distributed as follows
- HER-D201 Drawing 3 (3 cr.)
- HER-D202 OR D211 OR K211 (3 cr.)
- HER-K201 Photography 1 (3 cr.)
- HER-K202 Photography 2 (3 cr)
- HER-K301 Photography 3 (3 cr.)
- HER-K302 Photography 4 (3 cr.)
- HER-K303 Color Photography (3 cr.)
- HER-K304 Advanced Color Photography OR K300 Advanced Digital Imaging (3 cr.)
- HER-K401 Photography V (6 cr.)
- HER-K 402 Photography VI (6 cr.)
- HER-K311 OR K411 Individual Research in Photography (3 cr)
- HER-J410 Senior Capstone Requirement (3 cr.)
18 credits
Non-Studio requirements6 credits
- ENG-L 105 or L115 English Literature (3 cr.)
- Academic elective (3 cr.)
Total: 125 credits
Last updated: December 2013